Canadian Warplanes (1) British Columbia, Langley, Canadian Museum of Flight

Warplanes in British Columbia,

Langley, Canadian Museum of Flight

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical Warplane preserved in Canada. Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website. Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited. Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplanes in Canada would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author athskaarup@rogers.com.

Avro CF-100 Canuck Mk. 3D, RCAF (Serial No. 18138), c/n 038, built in 1953, with wings and fuselage from Mk. 5C (Serial No. 18766) and (Serial No. 18791), 445 Squadron. RCAF 18138 was one of 56 converted in 1955 from Mk. 3B to Mk 3D dual trainers. It saw service with No. 440 Sqn, Bagotville), 445 Sqn, Uplands, Ontario, and with No. 3 AW(F) OTU at North Bay, Ontario. 18138 was struck off strength (SOS) from the RCAF in May of 1963, and used at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Aviation Campus at the Vancouver International Airport for training of aircraft maintenance students. It came to the CMF in 1987.

Bristol (Fairchild) 149 Bolingbroke Mk. IVT, RCAF (Serial No. 9896), forward fuselage section. This Bolingbroke was built by Fairchild Aircraft of Longuiel, Quebec in Nov 1937. The Canadian version of this British aircraft was fitted with two 920 hp Bristol Mercury XV radial engines and American instruments and equiment installed. The remainder of this aircraft is in storage.

(Author Photos, 26 Jan 2019)

Bristol (Fairchild) 149 Bolingbroke gun turret. The Bolingbroke was armed with one .303-inch Vickers K machine gun in the nose and two .303-inch Browning machine guns in a dorsal turret. The aircraft could also carry a 1000-lb bomb load.

Canadair CT-133 Silver Star, RCAF (Serial No. 21487), RCAF (Serial No. 133847), ML-487. This aircraft was flown as a pilot trainer at Gimli, Manitoba, until it was retired in 1967. It was donated to the CMF in 1977, missing its engine, instruments and cockpit furnishings.

(Mike Kaehler Photo)

(Author Photos, 26 Jan 2019)

Canadair CT-114 Tutor (Serial No. 114003), No. 8, c/n 1003, flown by the Snowbirds with No. 431 Air Demonstration Squadron in the 1970s. It came to the CMF in 2005.

Douglas DC-3-277B (Serial No. 2198), "Spirit of the Skeena". This was the first DC-3 owned and operated by Queen Charlotte Airlines of BC. She became the first DC-3 flown by Pacific Western Airlines and was assigned fleet number 301. Reg. No. CF-PWH is the oldest surviving DC-3 in Canada.

Handley Page (Victory) HP 52 Hampden Mk. I, RCAF (Serial No. P5436), HL-B, powered by a pair of 1000 hp Bristol Pegasus XVIII radial air-cooled engines. P5436 is a Canadian-built Hampden, one of 160 built in Canada by the Victory Aircraft consortium. It was only flown for 100 hours before it crashed near Patricia Bay on 15 Nov 1942, during a torpedo dropping practice run. Although the aircraft sank in 600 feet of water, the 4-man crew survived and was picked up by a Stranraer flying boat shortly after the crash. The aircraft was fairly complete when it was recovered but badely corroded and fragile. Recovery was achieved with the aid of a remotely controlled submarine aided by a video camera. Restoration of P5436 was achived using components from other Hampden crash sites in the rebuild. It is currenly on display with the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia.

Lockheed L18-08/C-57 Lodestar (Serial No. 2064), CF-TCY. This 14-passenger Lodestar was the sixth aircraft of this type delivered to TCA on 13 Feb 1941. It was the flagship of the TCA fleet from 1941 until 1947. This aircraft was sold to the Dept. of Transport in March of 1948 and was converted to Club Executive Model for use by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, Cabinet Ministers and visiting Heads of State, to destinations in Canada, USA and Mexico. When not required in this role, it was used for ice patrol off the Labrador Coast and in the far North. In April 1958 it was sent to Crown Assets Disposal Corp. and sold in December 1959 to a Winnipeg operator. Little is recorded of its work for the next eight years at which time it was found abandoned at Chicago Midway Airport, still in Transport Canada markings where it was seized by the airport authorities and slated for scrap.

Mr. Earl Reinert salvaged the aircraft in 1968 for his Victory Air Museum at Mundelien, Illinois. Unfortunately, he had the wings sawed off close to the fuselage to facilitate a hasty exit by road from Midway Airport and through the streets on the south side of the City of Chicago. At Mundelein he had the wings reattached and the aircraft painted in camouflage to resemble an RAF Hudson Bomber, which was the wartime version of the Lockheed 18-08. In 1986 this museum was forced to close and the collection liquidated, and offered for sale to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation in Surrey BC. CF-TCY is being refurbished and brought up to museum standard by the University College of the Fraser Valley, (UCFV) in the College hangar at Abbotsford.

McDonnell CF-101B Voodoo (Serial No. 101063), 4167 Sqn. This aircraft is being transferred to the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia, from the Shearwater Aviation Museum, Nova Scotia.

(BK-Hunters Photo)

Mignet HM-290 Pou du Ciel (Flying Flea), (Serial No. F-58), JDS-1, CF-RFH, built in 1962, it was donated to the CMF in 1982.

Westland Lysander Mk. IIIA, RCAF (Serial No. 2349), c/n 1194, Reg. No. C-GBXL, 1941, silver, displayed without fabric covering. This Lysander was built up from 4 or 5 airframes and was originally to be displayed at Expo 86, which is why it was finished as a "see through" exhibit. The Canadian Museum of Flight intended to restore it back to flying condition at one point, which is why it was registered as C-GBXL.

Engines

(Author Photo, 29 Jan 2019)

The Canadian Museum of Flight has an excellent collection of aircraft engines, including this Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin 224 British designed V-12 piston aero engine with a liquid cooling system incorporating a two-speed, single-stage supercharger, rated up to 1,680 hp. This engine was used to power the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster Mk. X. The engine is a contemporary of the Allison V-1710, also on display in the CMF, which powered the twin-engine Lockheed P-38D/E Lightning.

(Author Photo, 29 Jan 2019)

de Havilland Goblin 2 centrifugal compressor turbojet used to power the de Havilland DH.100 Vampire.